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Listening Poems
Please enjoy this small selection of listening-themed poems by Listener's Unite creator, Linda Eve Diamond, and the poem, Today I Will Listen, by Marva McIntosh, founder of I Love to Listen Day. Please be sure to also visit the Prompts page for 10 Poetry Prompts for writing listening-inspired poems!
The Apple in the Room
By Linda Eve Diamond
This poem is based on The Listening Room, 1952 by René Magritte, in which an apple takes up the full space of a room, wall to wall.
Click here to see this painting.
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Should we talk about
the apple in The Listening Room?
What’s behind it? What the…?
Curious, we hunger for a sound bite.
We make guesses and confirm them
with ourselves. We assume it’s something
about pushing at “inside-the-box” boundaries,
what the apple conceals, what the apple reveals
that the apple is giant, that this is a doll’s room,
that the artist has something or nothing to say
that the artist wants us to be amused, bemused,
quieted, disquieted, completely knocked off-center
pushing our imaginations to the edge of that box
where we, feeling claustrophobic, hit the wall
thinking there must be one right way to see it
and we grind at the apple, mashing it up
into old-fashioned applesauce
still never getting to the core…
There’s no getting around it. The apple
is wedged in. It isn’t going anywhere.
The apple has the floor and all we can do is
sit in the shadows of the mystery—and listen.
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"The Apple in the Room" is included in the The Art of Listening (a free ebook anthology, published in 2023).
A Thin Line
By Linda Eve Diamond
Created from a vintage Woodcut by Josef Eberz "Nächtlicher Zirkus" (Night Circus), Germany 1920 (Would you like to see the artist's original image? Click here.)
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The sun is setting and we stand apart
trembling, on a tightrope in the dark.
We both have our stories about how
we ended up here, how the chasm
widened, how the divided states
fractured, how we became small
warring countries within our own
small circles, how common ground
narrowed to this thin line, why
the stakes are raised every day.
But today, we’re trying
to see each other again
to recognize the familiar stranger
taking tenuous steps on a thin line
where we juggle topics and avoid
the flaming hoops, at least for now
gravity here centers on lightness
but the light is growing dim
and we’re checking our safety nets
again, looking at our phones.
We yawn with clownish exaggeration.
Well, look at the time. We say it’s late.
Maybe it’s early but it feels late so early
these days, in the noisy, dizzying haze
where we’re not the expert acrobats
we’d need to be to get us to safety
and neither one of us likes this routine
or the circus that’s sprouted up around us.
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A Thin Line was honored with the National Federation of State Poetry Societies Founders Award and published in Encore: Prize Poems 2021.
The Doorway
By Linda Eve Diamond
Trapped inside myself, I heard your voice,
the gentle offering you placed in the doorway.
You offered to listen. I opened up just a little.
You stepped so softly… as if entering
a place of prayer.
You didn’t look for a light switch,
bring a flashlight, open the blinds,
or try in any way to illuminate
my space.
You sat quietly beside me
in the dark.
I talked in stops and starts
becoming smoother as you listened.
You didn’t jump in, preach or rant,
judge me, entertain or chant.
I unburdened, articulated,
and could feel my breath… slowing.
You didn’t tweet, text, check your phone,
or update your online status to “listening.”
I don’t know when the door blew open,
but a natural light filled the room.
Through that generous, open space,
stirred a breeze of fresh, breathable air.
As you listened, my thoughts began to clarify,
opening to a knowing voice deep inside.
You helped me find my voice,
my center and my smile.
You say you didn’t do a thing.
You simply listened.
Thank you for all that you didn’t do
and all that you did by listening.
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Find audio of this poem on the International Day of Listening's Listening Moments page, where you will also find other "listening moments" and an invitation to submit your own (which can be poetry, music, nature...).
Today I Will Listen
By Marva Shand-McIntosh
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Today I will listen
Without interrupting
Without prejudging
Without second guessing
Without gazing
Without rehearsing
Without discounting
Without filtering
Without correcting
Without contradicting
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Today I will just listen
Today I will listen
With attention
With humility
With respect
With patience
With understanding
With awe
With gladness
With empathy
With warmth
With gratitude
With reverence
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Today I will just listen.
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The author of "Today I Will Listen," Marva Shand-McIntosh is the founder of I Love to Listen Day
"Today I Will Listen" is included in The Art of Listening (a free ebook anthology published in 2023)
I Love to Listen Day (in May) and the International Day of Listening (in September) are two annual celebrations of listening.
Find more listening celebrations, organizations, and other listening connections on the Listening Links page.
Be sure to also visit the Poetry Prompts and An Invitation to Share pages!
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Find more listening-themed poetry in The Art of Listening, a free anthology of listening-themed poetry and visual arts (published in 2023, edited by Linda Eve Diamond)